KETCHIKAN , Alaska -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The `` Bridge to Nowhere '' may have been shelved . But the `` Road to Nowhere '' is alive and well .

Gov. Sarah Palin let the `` Road to Nowhere '' go ahead because the contract had been signed .

The proposed $ 400 million span that would have connected the coastal city of Ketchikan to its airport on Gravina Island died after it became a symbol of congressional excess .

But the three-mile access road that was built on the island is ready for residents to take a drive to nowhere . It was paid for by some of the $ 223 million in federal funding that sparked ridicule among opponents of congressional `` pork-barrel '' spending .

In stump speeches , Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has touted her eventual decision to abandon the Gravina Island bridge , which she initially supported . But Palin , now the Republican vice presidential candidate , let the access road go ahead because the contract to build it had been signed , a campaign aide said . iReport.com : Are you in a battleground state ? Share your stories

Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein calls the road , which was paid for by federal tax dollars , a waste of money that could have been used to fix his city 's roads and sidewalks .

`` Gov. Palin could have stopped construction of this road , '' said Weinstein , who wore his `` Nowhere , Alaska '' T-shirt to an interview with CNN . Watch where road ends ''

The island is connected to the city by a ferry that runs to the airport , well past the point where the bridge was to have been built . But some locals said they 'll find some way to use the road , such as running or bicycle riding .

`` It 'd be nice to see them put something over here now they have a road : park , picnic benches , something to get people out here , '' said P.J. Murphy , who works on the island . `` I mean , it 's pretty here . '' Read Abbie Boudreau 's `` backstory '' blog on `` Road to nowhere ''

Campaign spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said Palin would not have allowed the road project to go forward under normal circumstances . But the deal had been signed just before she took office in December 2006 , Stapleton said .

`` The governor was left no viable alternative , '' Stapleton said .

For the first two weeks of her campaign , Palin routinely told audiences in her stump speech that she told Congress `` thanks , but no thanks '' for the bridge , which was backed by the leaders of Alaska 's congressional delegation . But Weinstein , a Democrat , said Palin instead spent $ 26 million to build a road `` that will not go to a bridge . ''

Palin has been heavily criticized for repeating the stock line about killing the `` Bridge to Nowhere '' without noting that she supported the project as a candidate for governor .

She has dropped the line from her stump speech in the past week , but a McCain-Palin aide said that her prepared remarks are being tweaked as needed to reflect current events , and it could come back again .

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Road on Alaskan island was built with some of $ 223 million in taxpayer money

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Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein calls the road a waste of money

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Road was supposed to be access connector to the failed ` Bridge to Nowhere '

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` Bridge to Nowhere ' has become symbol of excessive spending